Today is the 100 anniversary of the RAF.
" In our 100th year, we will commemorate those who have gone before, thank our service men and women and inspire the next generation so that together, we can continue to help shape our world for the next 100 years and beyond #RAF100"
https://twitter.com/RoyalAirForce?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5EauthorBit of trivia.....
The Royal Air Force has become synonymous with its distinctive blue uniforms, but that was not always the case.
In fact, the RAF has just one particular British textiles manufacturer to thank for starting a 100-year-old tradition.
In 1918 the RAF was formed through the merging of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.
But the service needed a fittingly new uniform, so cloth makers Hainsworth was approached.
Julie Greenough, marketing manager at Hainsworth, said the RAF wanted uniforms that were different to the other services.
"We were lucky at the time because we actually had a warehouse full of blue-grey material that had been woven for the Tsar of Russia for his Cossack trousers.
"But we were unable to deliver it because war broke out in Russia and we had a warehouse full of this blue-grey material that we couldn't use and we didn't have a source for "Then the RAF came at exactly the same time and the salesman thought 'RAF and blue' - they have taken that fabric since and they still take it for their ceremonial uniforms now."
Made from 100% pure wool, the weight of and the process of achieving the blue colour of the material is a closely guarded secret.
https://www.forces.net/news/cloth-makers-invented-famous-raf-blue